


Paint Me Like One of Your French Canadians

by Denois



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M, allusions to sex and sex related topics, artist!Nursey, but no smut, nude model!Dex, the OFC is the art professor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-17 01:11:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18954886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois
Summary: Lardo hooked Dex up with an extra part time job to help make ends meet back in his frog year. Modeling for the art classes was pretty easy money, and the team never had to know. Until Nursey took an art elective and needed a private model to complete his project and pass the class. Nursey's sure that he can keep it professional and friendly....as long as Dex never sees the completed paintings.





	Paint Me Like One of Your French Canadians

**Author's Note:**

> Great big thank you to [pastel-franceschi](https://pastel-franceschi.tumblr.com/) for drawing the [wonderful art that inspired](https://fee-does-band-art.tumblr.com/post/185123169142/paint-me-like-one-of-your-french-canadians) this fic.
> 
> Thank you to [Draskireis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/draskireis), [Lukutoukka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lukutoukka), and [Kirani](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirani) for the beta reads.

October, 2014  
Dex sat on the bench in his cubby, staring at the wallet in his hands. There were still a few bills in it, but he knew they were singles. Not that it had held much more before the after practice fines. Fines for arguing with Nursey during practice. Fines for the mild shoving slash wrestling match as they got dressed. And a fine for stepping on the ‘S’ when he’d tried to avoid that match. The fines weren’t a lot, but they added up. And it was still over a week until his on campus work study would pay him. 

He should probably talk to Nursey. He was pretty sure they were getting better on the ice, and the rough-housing was mostly friendly now. Maybe Nursey would understand, be “chill”, about cooling it in the locker room. He’d like to be able to eat some place other than the dining hall and by Bitty’s grace, just sometimes.

“When’s payday?” Lardo’s voice jerked his head up and he refocused on the room, empty now but for the two of them. 

He sighed and put the wallet back in his pocket. “A week Friday.”

Lardo tapped the side of her leg for a moment. “I’ll talk to Jack about allowance for payment by sweat equity. A Work for Fine arrangement.”

Dex started shaking his head before she finished talking. “Nah. It’s okay. It’s the same fines everyone else faces.”

“Bro. Equality of application does not create equity of impact. Besides, you’ve been keeping Bitty’s oven alive and helping with general upkeep around the Haus. You deserve compensation for that.”

“I don’t do it to be paid for it.” Dex shrugged his shoulders up and then back, rotating them to try to alleviate some of the tightness he was feeling.

“Nah. Partly because it makes you feel good, smart, and useful, and partly because you think it shows you’re worth keeping around.” Lardo dropped beside him before he could get up and flee. “I mean. I get it. I’m a first generation immigrant and like 60% of these guys are from families that have been prep schooling it since the 1700s. It’s tough feeling like an outsider.”

Dex snorted. “You make it look easy.”

“That’s because I make them respect me.”

“Hmm. Probably because you deserve all the respect.”

“True.” She bumped her shoulder against his. “If you really don’t want me to talk to Jack about changing the format of your fines, I won’t.”

“Thanks. I just gotta manage my money or find another job that will work with school and practice and won’t get the NCAA up my ass too much.” He shrugged. It really wasn’t a big deal. This was the first time that he’d worked so little since he’d been legally eligible to work, which had been eight for lobstering. 

Lardo stood and, after a short pause, held out a hand for a fist bump. “Come by Kotter this afternoon. I might know something you could do.”

The next week he started a second job on campus as a life model. It paid $25 per hour and he modeled an hour at a time, four times a week. Which meant it nearly doubled his weekly pay from campus jobs, so he decided to keep doing it. 

It didn’t seem like the kind of thing that needed to be shared with the rest of the team.

Especially when he recognized some of the art from Lardo’s Junior Show as being inspired by him. It was weird. For the first time in his life, he was thankful for whatever made contemporary art be the way it was: no one else seemed to recognize him in the works.

* * *

January 2017

Week four of the spring semester and Nursey had already missed two of the work labs for his painting class. He really should have figured it out during shopping week that the labs were going to clash with roadies, but that week had been a home game and he hadn’t thought about it. 

Which was why he was standing outside the lab on a Tuesday, waiting for one of his professor’s other classes to finish so he could ask her about attending a different lab session. He ran a hand over his sweater, making sure it hadn’t somehow gathered crumbs or dirt between the Haus and Kotter. He always liked to dress up when he asked for favors or special treatment. Dex chirped him for it, but probably just because he was jealous that it worked.

Finally, the door opened and Nursey pushed himself off the wall while the room emptied. There were usually only twenty or thirty students per lab, tops, so it didn’t take long for the stream of students to trickle out, giving him a chance to step into the room. He got three and a half steps into the room when his blood ran cold and his “I’m a good student and deserve this favor” smile froze on his face. 

At the front of the room, adjusting a flimsy and altogether too short robe over his broad shoulders, was Dex. Nursey absolutely did not allow his eyes to linger on how taut the fabric stretched over those shoulders, or how the thin hem ruffled in the currents from the air conditioner to brush against the backs of freckled thighs. 

He did, however, stumble because he’d frozen three and a half steps into the room rather than completing the fourth step. Luckily, he caught himself on an easel. Not so luckily, the one next to it still had a student putting away supplies. 

She flicked her eyes towards him and then followed his gaze towards Dex. “I know, right?” 

Nursey’s mouth worked as he tried to form a response, but she swung her bag over her shoulder and gave him a pat on the shoulder on her way past to the exit.

He couldn’t believe that she thought that he was ogling Dex. He would _never_.... Ok, he would rarely. Not in the locker room or anything, that’s code. And when they shared a room, that would have been mad creepy. He tried not to ogle Dex, he was his d-line partner and, more importantly, his _friend_. 

And maybe also the guy that he’d been crushing on hard for over two years. 

Not that it mattered. He’d also been flirting hard for over two years and he rarely got more than an eye roll in response.

Nursey’s mind blanked again as Dex turned towards him, wrapping the robe tighter and fumbling for the ties. Nursey watched as the satin slid over his chest, catching on the soft chest hairs, and then his eyes dropped to where Dex’s hands were twisting the ties into a knot. 

“Mr. Nurse? Did you need something?” Dr. Chapman was watching him with raised brows and bemused smile on her face when Nursey managed to drag his eyes away from the blush that was spreading down Dex’s throat and over the exposed portion of his chest. 

“I should go. I’ll get here early so we can decide then, if that’s okay Dr. Chapman.” Dex waited for confirmation and then strode briskly from the room. 

If Nursey didn’t know better, he’d think that Dex was fleeing. Nursey watched him go then shook his head slightly before turning back to the professor. 

Dr. Chapman met his gaze with a small smirk. “Derek, we tend to prefer that students not look at the life models as though they were for sale in a butcher shop window.”

Nursey felt his smile falter and he forced a laugh. “It’s not like that. Dex is my partner. I just wasn’t expecting to see him here.”

Dr. Chapman raised her brows and hummed in response. “Did you need something? You’ve missed two weeks of labs now. I’m beginning to worry that you won’t be able to recover the lost time.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, actually.” Nursey allowed his shoulders to relax and brought his face back under control. “I realized that the lab time conflicts with the leave time for away games. I was hoping that maybe I could attend lab with one of the other lecture groups?”

Dr. Chapman shook her head. “All the other labs are full for the life model courses.” She paused and seemed to consider. “Although, you said William is your partner?”

“Um, yes. Yes he is.”

She tilted her head and gave a small shrug. “He’s one of the approved life models. If you’re willing to come to my office hours for review of the project and feedback throughout the semester, you could see if he’d be willing to sit for you privately. Let you draw him like one of your French Canadians.” She smirked again.

“Acadian.” The correction slipped out without his conscious decision while his mind whirled with the possibility. Would Dex ever agree to it? He had to have had some reason for agreeing to be a life model in the first place. 

“What’s that?”

“Huh? Oh, Dex is Acadian. He’s from Maine. That…doesn’t really matter. Uh, yeah. I’ll ask him. Thank you, Dr. Chapman.” Nursey hurried from the room without waiting for a response. Dex was probably dressed by now, where would he go?

* * *

Dex yanked his clothes on as quickly as possible and then took the stairs two and three at a time on the way down rather than waiting for the elevator. He wasn’t quite running when he hit the exterior doors, but it was close. His only hope was to reach the science buildings on the other side of campus before Nursey got done speaking to Dr. Chapman. Maybe then he could avoid being chirped to death by Mr. ‘Models For The Student Catalogue’ himself. 

It wasn’t fair. Like, completely hypocritical. He didn’t think Nursey’d even gotten paid for being on the cover of the catalogue. Which, okay, if Dex was being fair, he probably couldn’t have been or the NCAA would have considered it using his image as an endorsement deal or something and penalized him. 

But Dex didn’t want to be fair. Dex wanted to hide. Dex wanted the universe to be just a little bit fair to him for a change. Dex wanted to avoid being chirped by one of the most attractive men on campus about the fact that he was modeling nude for money. 

Because Dex was almost certain that the chirps would involve lewd and provocative statements and innuendos. The sorts of things that made him forget for half a second that his crush was hopeless. The sort of chirps that allowed him to indulge in the blissful, painful, fantasy that he actually stood a chance, that Nursey could ever actually think of him like that, too. 

So, yeah, Dex was running away and he was almost willing to admit it to himself.

Unfortunately, he was not running away fast enough, because Nursey caught up to him on Lake Quad.

“Hey Dexy! Do you got a minute?” Nursey sounded slightly winded, like he’d jogged to catch up.

Dex briefly considered breaking into a sprint. Instead, he took a deep breath and stopped and turned. “What’s up, Nurse?”

“So, you’re a life model for the art classes?”

“I swear to god, Nurse. If you ran me down to chirp me over finding a job that actually pays decent, I’ll….” Dex trailed off. He wasn’t actually sure how that sentence would end – probably with something about being hurt or about crying himself to sleep. Generally things he wouldn’t admit to himself, much less out loud in front of someone else. 

“What? No! Chill, Poindexter. I, uh. Actually, Dr. Chapman suggested I talk to you?” Nursey was no longer meeting Dex’s eyes and seemed almost embarrassed. It was confusing. Very confusing.

“Why?”

“I’m in one of her figure painting classes, but I didn’t pay attention to the lab time and it’s Fridays and conflicts with when we leave for roadies most times. So I keep missing. And I’ve gotta get five paintings done for the final project, so I can’t really afford to keep missing.” 

Dex nodded. The different classes each had a different number of paintings or drawings required, though it being Samwell, painting and drawing had very loose and broad definitions. He wasn’t surprised that Nursey hadn’t checked the schedule before locking into a session, but he was still confused about what it had to do with him.

“She suggested that maybe, since you’re one of the approved models, and we already have a lot of schedule similarities that maybe you’d be willing to like, be my model, too? Like, privately. I’d pay you.” He said the last in a rush and Dex felt his eyes narrowing. “Um, I mean, I could probably pay the rate the school is? Or more if that seems fair for it being individual sittings.” 

Dex stared at him for a long moment, trying to figure out if this was a real request. Well, request slash offer. The idea of having an employee-employer relationship with Nursey made his stomach twist. It was as though his fears about not really being seen as a peer and friend had come to life and chased him down to bite him on the ass.

“If you don’t want to, that’s chill. I can get a list of the other approved models. One of them will probably be able to make room for me. I just thought…” Nursey trailed off, leaving Dex in the dark about what he’d thought.

On the other hand, he could always use extra cash. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth before he could think better of his decision. After all, he wasn’t ever going to have a boyfriend relationship with Nursey, might as well have an employment relationship. “Yeah. Ok. I’ll do it.”

“Chill!” Nursey moved in, almost like he was going to hug Dex, before settling on just slinging an arm around his shoulders for a sideways bro hug. “Thanks Dexalicious. I gotta get to my poetry seminar, so I’ll catch you later to figure out specifics. But seriously, you’re saving my life here, bro.”

Dex watched Nursey’s back. It was a complicated thing, feeling hollow inside and also being happy to help the man he was hopelessly gone on.

* * *

February 2017

Nursey could remember and track every decision and action that had led to this moment, but it still felt surreal. Dex, stretched out and naked, lying on a couch just so that Nursey could stare at him. Okay, technically so Nursey could paint him, but that involved a substantial amount of staring. It was kind of like a fantasy of his. 

Except in his fantasies Dex wasn’t staring out the window looking bored and Nursey wasn’t across the room painting. There was a lot more touching going on in the fantasies, that was for sure. At least they were crammed into a rented studio space on a couch that Nursey brought in specifically for the project instead of on the disgusting green couch back at the Haus. Nursey would never ask Dex to lay naked on that green monstrosity. 

They had worked out a twice a week schedule, though Dex did say that if Nursey needed more time to paint, he’d be willing to model whenever needed. But torturing himself two times a week was already enough. Looking, but not touching. Looking, but not too much. Looking, but acting like he wasn’t affected. Even if it was no big deal to Dex, Nursey didn’t think he’d survive more frequent sessions.

Besides, it amounted to the same amount of time the students got in lab, so it didn’t seem fair to have more time.

It only took a few weeks to complete the first two paintings, one of Dex sitting upright and one with him lounging and stretched out, both with him looking off to the side. He took them into Dr. Chapman’s Wednesday office hours.

“Hmm. I like your painterly style here. The fauvistic color choices work to emphasize the longing in his expression. They seem to be a sequence, the patient man waiting for his lover to return, perhaps. Or to arrive. It would be interesting to see the rest of the sequence play out in the three extrapolatory works.” Dr. Chapman sat back in her chair and turned toward Nursey. “How do you feel about the formal elements?”

“Uh. Chill.” Nursey paused and tried to buy himself some time as his brain stuttered over the idea that Dex appeared to be longing for a lover in the paintings. He was pretty sure he hadn’t put that there. Dex didn’t even have a boyfriend. At least, not that Nursey knew about. He’d know, right? 

“Is that all?” 

“No. I mean. I think my perspective is pretty good, but I could tighten it up along with my line work. I’m not as smooth as I could be. I, uh, I agree with you about the color choices. I wanted to kind of blend fauvism and impressionism with my color choices and shading to anonymize him while also bringing out the emotions.” Nursey nodded as he finished speaking. It sounded good. It was even partly true. Maybe even mostly true, except for the emotions part.

“Good analysis. I’ll expect you to work on smoother lines and on your perspective for the remaining pieces.” She started straightening some paperwork on her desk, a clear dismissal.

Nursey stood and replaced the paintings in his carry case. 

“I must confess, I’m curious what you two were talking about to evoke that expression, and how you’ll carry it through to the remaining paintings.” 

“Talking?”

Dr. Chapman looked up from her papers and pinned Nursey with a stare. “Yes. Talking. It’s quite customary for the artist to engage the patron in conversation to elicit the desired expression. And likely quite boring to sit in silence for hours on end. Though, the two of you are partners, so you probably know what topics will generate the desired effects. A bit of an advantage, there. Well, good day, Derek.”

She smiled and returned her attention to the papers in front of her as Nursey finally gathered his items and exited. 

* * *

The next session with Dex, Nursey sat frozen at his easel. This was the first of the paintings that extrapolated from the model, putting them in a different position from how they were posed, and Nursey had no idea where to begin. 

Dr. Chapman had suggested continuing from a theme of the lover waiting for his love. But Dex didn’t have a love, so Nursey couldn’t know what he’d look like when his love arrived. A small, very unhelpful voice, suggested that – if only Dex loved Nursey – then Nursey would know. Nursey shushed that voice and focused on selecting a brush. 

“So, write any interesting code lately?”

A furrow formed on Dex’s forehead. “Nurse. You don’t. Just. I’m working for you right now. It’s ok. You don’t have to make me feel better about it.”

Nursey stopped and looked up at him. “I, uh. I wasn’t? Dr. Chapman suggested that our situation is more like a patron and artist? Like, traditionally, you would have paid me to paint you looking all, idk. Powerful or debonaire or something. She said artists talk to their patrons while painting them to get the right expression on their faces.”

“You haven’t talked to me for the last few weeks.” Dex looked back to the window as though that settled it.

“Yeah. Apparently I suck at being a patroned artist.”

“Only you, Nurse. Only you.”

“Hey! I can’t be the only one. This is other disaster artist erasure.”

Dex turned and stared directly at Nursey before a laugh bubbled up and escaped his lips. He clutched his stomach with one hand and threw his head back on the couch as the laughter overtook him. The position was one that Nursey’d seen before, throat stretched out and exposed, blush creeping down Dex’s neck and chest. But it was one he’d never seen while Dex was naked, and while Nursey was trying not to think of Dex as his lover.

Well, head thrown back in mirth and head thrown back in ecstacy weren’t that dissimilar were they? He was supposed to extrapolate, and well, he had a whole library of mental images about what Dex’s pleasure faces would look like. 

He could do this. 

He just had to make sure Dex never saw the finished paintings.

* * *

May 2017

Dex stood and cracked his back while pulling the thin robe on after the lab session.

“Thanks, Will. Excellent job as always.” Dr. Chapman flashed him a warm smile before moving to fold up easels for storage.

“Of course. I’ll see you next year, then. Have a good summer.” The first year, he’d offered to help her put everything away after the last class of the semester and, both times, she’d insisted that she preferred to do it herself. Something about closing out the semester as a chapter in her life. Whatever that meant, it seemed to mean that his help wasn’t needed or wanted, so he had learned to just say goodbye and go get changed and move on.

“Oh, well I might see you at the exhibit this weekend too, though.” 

“Exhibit?”

She finally paused and looked over at him. “The exhibit for the progression class? I know you find it awkward to go to the exhibits that you modeled for, but I thought as Derek’s partner that you would go to support him since he’s the only one you modeled for from that class.”

“Oh right. Of course. I forgot.” Dex twisted his face into an approximation of a smile and hurried to the changing room. As soon as he was clothed – somehow this seemed like the sort of thing to do clothed – he texted Chowder and asked him to meet up at Dex’s bungalow in the basement.

He arrived before Chowder and spent the intervening time pacing back and forth. If helping his uncle with plumbing projects hadn’t put him off nail biting, he’d probably be down to the quicks, but as it was, he had to keep forcing himself to unclench his hands before he drew blood. 

Chowder arrived with his usual bright smile but it quickly faded as Dex threw a panicked look his way. After dropping his bag, Chowder sank into Dex’s computer chair. “Ok, so I guess I’m not here to discuss the Stanley Cup playoffs.”

“You know how I’ve been modeling for Nursey? Of course. Yeah. Ok. Did you know that he’s got an exhibit this weekend? Of the paintings of me?” Dex continued pacing. 

Chowder was slow in answering. “Well, uh. Yes? I think he mentioned it.”

Dex stopped and stared at him. “Does the whole team know? Why wouldn’t he tell me? Is he embarrassed that I was his model? I thought we were getting closer again. Like, I mean, is it weird laying in front of him nude and have him just stare at me clinically because it’s nothing to him? Yeah. Yeah, it’s weird. It’s wicked fucking weird. But, it’s not like this is my first time as a life model. I understood his project was on the line. I kept it professional. What did I do that he wouldn’t want me there? Was I too obvious? He’s disgusted with me, isn’t he? God. I like, I thought of horrible things to make sure there was no hint of a boner. Chowder. Chris. I can’t tell you what I thought about. I don’t want to think about what I thought about. But it must not have been enough, right? He could tell. I fucked up. I fucked up so bad.”

“Dex! Stop. Breathe.” Chowder’s shout broke through the tumult of spiraling thoughts.

Dex stared at him wide-eyed and took several slow, ragged breaths. 

“He probably just didn’t tell you because he didn’t want you to feel obligated to go and we know how weird you find going to the art shows. You wouldn’t tell us which ones you were the subject of at Lardo’s shows, but I know that they made you uncomfortable. He probably just wanted to spare you that.”

“Contemporary art is just wicked weird, Chowder. Shit isn’t even recognizable as human, much less as me. Why would he think I wouldn’t want to go? When have I ever shirked on supporting a teammate? Especially Nursey?”

Chowder looked thoughtful and pursed his lips. “Um, I don’t think you ever have actually? But like, you don’t always enjoy it? So he didn’t want you to feel obligated if you weren’t going to enjoy it. I’m sure that’s why he didn’t tell you.”

The room fell silent for a long moment. “So. You think he wouldn’t mind if I was there? I won’t go if he doesn’t want me. Like, I get it. I’m… me. But Dr. Chapman seemed to expect to see me….” He trailed off. He wasn’t sure why he was fighting so hard about going. 

Did he really want to see the evidence of his heart eyes captured by Nursey’s brush? Or would Nursey have seen him as cold and dispassionate? He wasn’t sure which would be worse to see on canvas. If he was lucky, he’d be reduced to a few brightly colored squiggles like two years ago.

Chowder hummed softly. “Well, he said it was chill if people couldn’t go or didn’t want to when he invited the team.” He paused and raised his eyebrows significantly. “He said it five times in as many minutes.”

Dex swallowed. “So he really wants the team to support him on this. I’m his liney. I should support him.” He nodded, telling himself that it was settled. 

* * *

Dex stepped into one of the small exhibit spaces in Kotter and pushed at the sleeves of his dress shirt. He wasn’t sure how nice he was supposed to dress up for this, but he’d worn a game day outfit for Lardo’s Junior Show, so it seemed appropriate for Nursey’s exhibit as well, even if it was a smaller show, being only for those taking this course and only for the works developed within it.

A grad student shoved a flyer about the exhibit towards him and he took it without really paying attention, thanking the student on autopilot. His gaze was scanning the room for Nursey or the rest of the team. Anyone he knew really. All he managed was a few other art students that he thought he recognized from the classes that he posed for. He avoided their gazes but couldn’t stop the way his ears started burning when he noticed a few recognizing him and giving him appraising looks. 

He pushed on, there wasn’t a large crowd, so it was easy to make his way past the various paintings of people turning into squares, cosine graphs, and a tree until he found Nursey’s paintings. 

They were…. They were good. The figure had a featureless face, instead relying on the shape of the brush strokes and the variance in color choices to capture the emotion. From the first one, it was clear that no matter how hard Dex had tried to play it cool, his crush was visible from space. The second wasn’t any better, somehow, impossibly, it was even more obvious how gone he was. He moved to the third painting and stopped short. 

Because that, that was not him. The figure lounged back on the couch, arms spread open and inviting, head thrown back, legs wide. He had definitely never posed like this for Nursey. He looked at the fourth and fifth paintings but they were even more lascivious. His throat felt tight and he pulled at his collar as he swallowed. 

No wonder Nursey hadn’t invited him. He hadn’t even used the paintings he’d made of Dex. Why would he offer to pay Dex to model if he had someone else lined up? Someone he was apparently dating, judging by the poses of those paintings. 

“Of course, of course he was just trying to be nice. I won’t take his money or let him pay for things, so he thinks ‘just give Dex a job, he’ll never know’. I’m an idiot.” Dex turned on his heel and pushed past the other attendees blindly. 

He thought he heard someone call his name, but he didn’t stop until he was almost to the exit. He only stopped then because Dr. Chapman physically blocked his path. 

“Will! So glad you could make it.” She flashed a smile at him. “I know you feel awkward attending these when you were the model, but, well, he is your partner. It’s good of you to support him.” 

Dex blinked a few times while he processed what she was saying. “Uh, yeah. I think some of the other guys on the team came to support him, too. Guess I shouldn’t feel awkward though, since I wasn’t a model for this exhibit.” A nearly hysterical giggle erupted before he could clamp his mouth shut over it. 

Dr. Chapman tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “I’m quite certain that you were. Derek was very clear when we discussed his first two paintings about how well he was working with you.” 

Dex closed his eyes and thought about the first two paintings in the series. Okay, yes. Those two definitely resembled Dex, but they were featureless so they could have been any pale athletic guy. “I’m sorry, he must have had another model. I never posed for those last three paintings like…that.” 

He felt his cheeks warming, thinking about people thinking that he’d posed like that for Nursey. Not that he hadn’t considered it. That wasn’t the point, the point was other people thinking about it happening when it hadn’t. It definitely hadn’t. He would remember.

Dr. Chapman just huffed a laugh in response. “I should hope you hadn’t. I’d have to change his grade and probably fail him.”

“Wha-? Why?” 

“Didn’t he tell you what the project was?” 

Dex could barely shake his head in response.

“Well, it’s described in the brochure there. It’s a progressive class, so the project entailed two works directly from a life model and then three works with the same life model, but captured in a different manner than they are posed.” 

She paused and looked around. “Most Samwell students take a rather, unique and abstract approach to the final three pieces. Derek’s style is more traditional though, so he stayed true to the original iteration of the assignment. Painting the subject in a position different from which they are posed.” 

“So, that’s me, just how he, what? Imagined me?” Dex balked.

“I may have suggested that the first two gave an air of a lover waiting for his love. I wasn’t sure how he’d decide to expand on that.” She smiled again and squeezed his arm. “You did a marvelous job this semester. I hope to see you again next fall. If you’ll excuse me….” She trailed off and then walked off while calling after someone else. 

Dex slowly turned back towards the room. He opened the brochure to the page discussing Nursey’s pieces. The title stared back at him. 

_His Coy Mister._

He looked up and his eyes swung back towards where Nursey’s pieces were displayed. It was easy to pick Chowder out of the crowd in his teal, but Dex’s eyes locked onto the person beside him. 

Once more, he strode through the room, ignoring the people around him until he was standing behind Nursey. He was vaguely aware of a few other members of the team being around. But he kept his gaze on Nursey who seemed to have sensed him and turned on his approach. He searched Nursey’s eyes, trying to find answers to the questions he couldn’t formulate. Finding none, he forced the courage to speak.

“Nurse?” He scrunched his face and took a deep breath. “What does this mean? Andrew Marvell? That?” He wanted to gesture to the paintings but all he could manage was a small nod. _What am I?_ went unspoken, dying to his fear.

Nursey gave a half shrug and tiny smile. “His coy mister. M- His dream?”

Nursey lifted a hand to Dex’s face. His thumb rubbed at Dex’s jaw while his fingers wrapped against the side and back of Dex’s neck, trembling ever so softly as he braced to hold Dex’s head in place. His lips pressed to Dex’s, soft, slow, gentle. It wasn’t an especially deep kiss, no tongue or teeth involved at all, but it was long and full of promise. 

He pulled away and Dex opened his eyes to see Nursey roll his lips between his teeth, like he was savoring the feeling and taste. Finally, he opened his eyes, and almost immediately shuttered behind walls of Chill, pulling back and removing the warmth of his hand. Dex rocked softly on his feet as he went.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. It doesn’t mean anything. I mean. That was not ok. If we could forget it happened, that would be great. But I understand if you can’t forgive me-“

“Don’t.” Dex broke into the stream of words. “Don’t do that to me. Don’t kiss me like that, like you meant it, and then take it back. Don’t play with my heart.” 

Dex stared into Nursey’s eyes, unflinching. Nursey stared back, searching. The seconds drew out until finally, Nursey moved. That was all it took. As soon as Nursey was moving toward Dex, Dex was moving towards him and they met in the middle in a clash of grasping hands and arms, desperate to press the other even closer. A clash of lips and tongue. A desperate need to pour all the words that had been trapped behind teeth directly into each other’s mouths. 

“Is this-? Is this part of the exhibit? One of those performance art things?” Tango’s voice hissed out in a whisper, answered by a low murmur from other guests.

Dex’s eyes popped open at the words and he pulled minutely away from Nursey. “Um, maybe…”

“The Haus?”

“Yeah. The basement.”

“Perfect.”

* * *

  
Epilogue

After the fiftieth or sixtieth kiss shared in the privacy of Dex’s basement room, Nursey pulled back slightly. Just enough to see Dex’s face. 

“So, um. Why’d you come back?”

Dex’s hands slowed almost still, only his thumbs moving to rub over Nursey’s skin as he settled back to return Nursey’s gaze. “What do you mean?”

“We saw you… not exactly fleeing, but leaving the exhibition in a hurry. I thought, you know, you’d seen the paintings and were pissed I’d thought about you like that.” Nursey ran a hand idly up and down Dex’s arm. “Seems like I was wrong.”

Nursey watched, as fascinated as usual, as Dex’s ears and neck slowly turned pink. 

“I thought it was someone else.”

Nursey stopped moving his hand, his head pulling back in reflex. “What? That wasn’t the assignment.”

In response, Dex turned his head to bury his face in a pillow. That didn’t stop him from talking, or trying to. 

“Will, babe. I can’t understand you if you speak to the pillow. Let’s leave pillow biting for later.” Great, now Nursey was thinking about that. He firmly told his body to chill. It was important to have this conversation first.

“I thought you used someone else to model for all of them and just paid me…. I don’t know. Out of pity? Because you got in too far on a chirp? Whatever. I thought-“ 

Turning his head enough to be understood also exposed how much redder Dex’s ears and cheek were getting and Nursey moved his hand up to trace them gently. 

Dex took a deep breath before continuing. “I thought that you knew about my crush and…. God, I don’t know. You didn’t invite me because you were sparing my feelings for seeing you had someone else? I’m not sure. I was just reacting at that point.”

Nursey hummed and leaned in to kiss Dex’s cheek, about all he could reach. “You have a crush on me, Poindexter? That’s embarrassing.”

He pulled back laughing as Dex shot up off the pillow to glare at him. The laughter died on his lips as he saw the worried wrinkles and fear in Dex’s eyes. 

“Thanks for confirming that. I was- I was worried that I was kinda reading too much into it.”

“Brought you back to my room.”

Nursey blinked and stopped to consider that. He couldn’t actually remember Dex ever taking someone down to the basement, or back to his dorm or trying to wheel at all. 

“Chill. Guess you’re right. Still, part of me worried you were just looking for a hookup.”

Dex’s snort was inelegant. “I got heart eyes so big you captured ‘em in your paintings. Meanwhile, you name the collection after a poem that amounts to ‘life’s short, let’s bang.’ But yeah. I’m the one looking to wheel.”

“If heart eyes were in my paintings, it was because of my wishful thinking.”

“Clearly not.”

“Chill.”

“I came back because…. Because Dr. Chapman stopped me before I could escape. By the way, pretty sure she thinks we’ve been dating.”

It was Nursey’s turn to duck his head. “I may have referred to you as my partner and not specified what type when she caught me checking you out.”

“What? When?”

“That first day. When I came in to ask about attending a different lab. You’d just pulled that teeny tiny robe on. Also, girl on the third row second to the left? Pretty sure she has a thing for you, too.”

“Nah. They’re ace. Just appreciate me aesthetically. You don’t need to worry about competition.”

“You’re gay, so I didn’t really expect it from that front anyway. But, thank you. Again.” When Dex only nodded in reply, he pressed. “What did Dr. Chapman say to make you turn back?”

“Oh, uh. She pointed out that I had the damn brochure for the show in my hand which explained that the last three paintings weren’t life drawings. Which got me to look at the title of your series.”

“Yeah? Chill.”

“Yeah. And since you basically titled it ‘I’m horny but he’s taking too long’ I thought I should check if I was the ‘he’ in question. Your kisses were good enough answer for me. But _somebody_ is a words guy and needs to hear it.”

Nursey smiled as he moved closer again, pressing his lips to Dex’s once more. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I- I’m not good with words like you. But if you need them, I’ll try.”

Dex’s gaze was downcast while he spoke and Nursey brushed his thumb over Dex’s cheek until he looked up. “Chill, Poindexter. You’re fine. You’re perfect.”

“Bullshit. You are.”

“Yeah? Come over here and say that to my face.” Nursey rolled onto his back and pulled Dex with him, luxuriating in the feeling of being pressed down by Dex like he was some kind of living weighted blanket. He slid his hands down Dex’s back to grab at his ass while his partner finally got around to making sure he was well and thoroughly kissed.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me, as always, on tumblr at [SexyDexyNurse](https://sexydexynurse.tumblr.com/)
> 
>  _His Coy Mister_ is a reference to "His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell.
> 
> Lowkey shout out to my boyfriend's art history classes for teaching me all the fancy painting words like "formal analysis" and "painterly style" and "Fauvism".


End file.
